Man Ventures Into New Territory...Then He Found This...

CAREFULLY remove plastic bushing

One cool thing about extended battles with 40 year old moped fuel delivery systems is that I've had to go into areas I've never gone. The plastic intake bushing/shim that is pressed into my Sha Dell'Orto 12/10 carb is an example. This bushing fits over the intake and then I tighten it down and that creates a seal. Well, it isn't sealing and research tells me this isn't uncommon. People use aluminum cans as additional shims and I realized that my carb rebuild kit came with an o-ring that I could put into the hole if I could get the shim out.


Now, removing this pressed plastic bushing isn't very hard but the slightest mistake will kill this carb and I can't get another carb like this so I'd be fucked proper if that happened. The clamp could easily crack and the shim itself could easily break. So the stress factor was very high. I must've learned something in my trades because I treated this bushing like the ark of the covenant, like 480V of pure death. I tenderly separated the clamp with a screwdriver. Then I softly pushed a small screwdriver into the area between the shim and the clamp. It's not glued in there, it's merely a perfect fit. So a little by little I loosened the shim. If I tried to do it fast then I would've broken the clamp or else punctured the shim. It was like brushing dirt from the tooth of a dinosaur or performing brain surgery on a mouse. I was meticulous and nothing went wrong. It took 2 hours. 

install O ring...then put bushing back in

 With the shim out I was able to fit the flat O ring in the hole. I'd wondered what the fuck this ring was doing in my rebuild kit. Well, I don't know if this is where it belongs but that's where it's going to stay. Air was managing to slip in there around the bushing. Some moped owners smear silicone gasket maker around that area trying to keep out the air. I still might have to do that. Now when I put the carb on the intake nipple will actually come into contact with rubber and maybe create a better seal.

Then put on rubber sleeve

This rubber sleeve is useless but it looks nice so I put it over the little lip of the bushing that was displaced by the o-ring. It came in the carb rebuild kit also.

This moped has had so many problems lately, 10 flat tires, broken spoke, dying, not starting, fouled plug, stalling, no power, brakes failing, wheels wobbling, I fucking lost my bike lock out of my ice chest trunk, hub gasket leaking, oily substance leaking from exhaust, points misadjusted, fuel mix was wrong, old gas, broken spark plug, 10 more flat tires, carb leaking, carb overflowing, floats sticking, float needle failure, banjo gasket failed, condenser faulty?, I broke a tire lever in half, carb flooding, fuel not flowing, etc. etc. I want to trade it immediately for a cool Honda 125cc but I'm obsessed with keeping the moped running. It belongs with the van.

Did it run? For now, it ran. I went to the gym to do my sit ups. Then to Soriana for my fried chicken lunch. Somewhere between Soriana and my home my bike lock fell out of my trunk because I'd purchased new 2 stroke oil, a new spark plug, and new tire levers for my next flat tire. The trunk was full but I stuffed by lock in there and it wasn't there when I got home. I retraced my steps for 4 miles and didn't find it. But the moped didn't stall either. So Oggy takes the good with the bad.